Final Prayer
by hullosweetpea
Summary: November 2, 1983: The boys are napping and Mary has a few requests to ask the angels in reference to her fire filled nightmares. The most unlikely archangel shows up to tell her the fate Heaven has set for the Winchesters.


**A/N: I don't exactly remember where I got the idea for this story. I think it mostly evolved from my theory that there is never enough Mary Winchester. And I happened to re-watch almost all the episodes featuring her in one go. And really all this story is just a bucket of sad feels.**

 **Disclaimer: Kripke**

Final Prayer

Mary walked silently into her and John's bedroom and shut the door behind her with a quiet click. John was at work and Sam and Dean were both down for naps, leaving Mary with some time for herself. The laundry was finished, the living room vacuumed, toys picked up until the boys woke up, and supper slowing cooking away on a Crock Pot on the counter. She pulled the salt shaker out from the pocket of her jeans and poured it along the doorway and along the window frame. It had been years since she had felt this uneasy, since she felt the life she had built for herself might crumble away and the hunting lifestyle might rip her away from her family. Slipping the anti-demon possession tattoo charm over her head she knelt down on her knees and clasped her hands together. "I've been given a lot in my life that I don't deserve. I know some would argue it is compensation for what I have done, for what I have sacrificed. But now I'm worried all of that is going to be swept away. I had an awful dream last night: a flash of yellow, two young men and a fire so real I felt the flames lick at my skin and heard my screams before I woke up. John didn't notice anything wrong and I didn't want to worry him; I didn't want to pull him into it. I almost lost him all those years ago and I didn't want him to know. I don't want him to ever know about the life I used to live. The life I felt I would never escape from. It's just...I've tried for years to live a normal life and I would never change what I have done, but this feeling...it has me worried for my boys. They're just so young. Dean's only four and Sammy just turned six months today. I never want them to go through what I have had to, to be raised in the hunter lifestyle. If you could just give me a sign, anything, that would assure me that nothing's wrong I would be grateful. Even if you just continue to watch them, even that would be enough for me. I have faith in all of you."

She heard a flutter of wings behind her and was instantly on alert. She turned around and threw holy water in the direction of the intruder. The man leaning against the doorway, sucker in hand, wiped the water off of his face with a sad expression. "I'm not a demon Mary."

She pulled a small silver blade from her pants pocket and pinned the man against the door. "Who are you? How do you know my name?"

The man put his hands above his head. "Woah, woah, woah. I call Uncle! Just put it away."

She pressed the blade in a bit harder again the men's throat. "And why should I?"

"You asked for a sign. Here I am."

Her eyes narrowed. "So then you would be...?"

"Gabriel, archangel of The Lord," he announced with a small smile on his face.

"I don't trust you," she growled, the knife now bringing blood.

"Calm down Momma Bear. I'm not going to harm the kiddos. I am one hundred percent celestial intent. I'd have you ask Dad, but he's a bit..." Gabriel shrugged his shoulders. "We'll I'm here."

Mary looked at him with calculated eyes. "Okay, but if you do anything-"

"Yeah, yeah I know. You'll try and kill me in some slow, drawn out way. You hunters always have to be so over dramatic," he replied as he unstuck himself from the doorway to set down on the bed.

Mary walked slowly around him, flipping the knife in her hand. "So you're an angel of The Lord?"

"Have been for millenniums," said Gabriel as he stuck his sucker back in his mouth.

"Why would an angel be my sign? Why couldn't it be something normal? Or why anything at all?"

Gabriel sighed. "It's...different this time. Different than your other prayers."

Mary caught the knife and stared at him. "You've heard them?"

"Well not all of them. All angels hear general prayers after all. But due to my…location I hear them a bit more often than my brethren. Not like I've talked to them lately...but I still try and do some of my heavenly duties. This is just the first house call I've made in a while."

"So why now? What's changed," demanded Mary.

"It's beginning Mary. You were warned once, but I know Michael took care of it. I'm surprise you're even able to have this conversation with me without going crazy. It's sure to trigger something."

And the terrible thing was that it did. A flash of the two young men from before and a red head popped in her head. "I don't know what you're talking about. Do you know what's happening?"

"I am a messenger of God. Tonight is where it all changes. It begins here, dripping in blood and blazing in fire. The beginning of a long chain of events that will change Heaven, Hell and earth," explained Gabriel.

"But why me? I gave the family business up years ago. I am retired."

Gabriel waved his hand and his sucker disappeared. He sat crossed legged on the bed and patted next to it. Mary shook her head and he rolled his eyes. "Honestly, I don't bite. Mary..."

She looked over at him and sat down a fair distance away from him. "What is so important about today?"

Gabriel sighed and looked Mary in the eye and she was struck with how sad they looked. "Today is the day you die Mary."

She gasped and lunged forward on the bed. Gabriel fell and the knife was plunged deep into his shoulder. " _Take it back_. _TAKE IT BACK_!"

Gabriel grimaced at the pain, but snapped his fingers and the knife was out of his shoulder and it was as if the pain was never there. "I can't. No matter what you do tonight it will happen."

She shook her head in disbelief. "No, I can't die. I have to protect my family from whatever attacks, because if I "die" then I'm sure as hell not letting it get them."

"Mary...tonight can never be changed. I'm sorry, but it ends here."

She breathed heavily next to him as if she was trying to keep from strangling him. "Tell me one more thing. Just one more and then leave my sight."

"Fair."

"Will they be okay?"

"The boys?"

Mary nodded.

Gabriel sighed, ruffling Mary's feathers, as this decreed archangel of The Lord sighed quite often. "...yes. Sorta."

"Sorta? What kind of answer is that?"

Gabriel held his hands up defensively. "I can only tell you so much."

Mary jabbed her knife into the mattress, just barely missing him. "No, you will watch over them. If I have to die the least you could do is watch over my boys. I don't want them to think I lied to them. I know I'll only be able to do so much from Heaven-and don't you dare even try and explain that to me right now-but I'll feel better if I know my boys are safe."

"Consider it done," squeaked Gabriel.

Mary wrenched the knife out of the mattress and he flinched. "Good."

Gabriel raised his fingers to Mary's forehead. "I'm so sorry Mary." He touched her temple and she collapsed on to the bed. He stood up and looked forlornly at her. He could only promise her so much, but the safety of the Winchester brothers was a tall task, one he was sure he wouldn't be able to fulfill for her. Not with what he knew. He snapped his fingers and the room resumed its original appearance: the salt lines were neat, the mattress whole, and Mary was even back to kneeling on the floor next to the bed. Gabriel looked one last time before with a flap of his wings he was gone.

"-you just continue to watch them, even that would be enough for me. I have faith in all of you." She looked up at the ceiling and smiled slightly. "I'd like to think the angels would look after them." A cry over the baby monitor alerted her that Sam had awoken from his nap and that more than likely Dean had too. She quickly slipped the charm back into her pocket and swept up the salt before walking out of her bedroom to see her boys.


End file.
